Best mesh network 2019: get the best mesh Wi-Fi for you

Say goodbye to poor network connection misery with one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems you can buy today

The best mesh networks of 2019 can help you banish dead spots and make sure you've got high-speed, high-reliability Wi-Fi stretching to every corner of your home.

We've tested a bunch of the best mesh Wi-Fi networks around, so we're able to make some recommendations with confidence – and what you see below are the mesh systems that should be somewhere near the top of your shortlist if you're in the market for a Wi-Fi upgrade.

Rather than having one router serving up Wi-Fi to your home, these mesh networks give you several access nodes, blanketing every corner of every room in good, wholesome wireless internet connectivity – your Netflix bingeing sessions need never be interrupted again.

What's more, now is a great time to be shopping for one of the best mesh networks for 2019, as hardware manufacturers continue to drop their prices dramatically, even on the hottest new systems around.

Before we get to the best on the market, though, let's first take a look at what mesh networks are, and how to choose the best mesh network for your home in 2019.

What is the best mesh network?

There are a few features a mesh network needs to get right to be truly great, and at the moment the Google Wi-Fi package hits most of the right targets for most Wi-Fi nightmare sufferers we know, making it our current pick for the best mesh network on the scene.

Some of the features are obvious – like extending your Wi-Fi right through your house, with no dead zones allowed (we don't want 56k modem speeds in the attic, even if it is just filled with cardboard boxes of clothes).

We'd also say decent looks (to fit in with your home decor) and affordable prices are important too – you're extending your Wi-Fi, not streaming video from outer space, and the costs should reflect that.

For the true power users, there are faster options than Google's out there. However, Google Wi-Fi combines decent speeds, attractive looks and mid-range prices – and it can entirely replace your current router rather than just plugging into it. It's also a breeze to use, which is a relief after years grappling with router settings.

How to buy the best mesh Wi-Fi system for you

Bear in mind that there are other ways to extend your Wi-Fi and get rid of dead zones around the home, including Wi-Fi extenders and Powerline adapters. Before you start splurging cash on the best mesh Wi-Fi network gear, make sure a mesh networking kit is the right option for you.

Mesh networks are quickly becoming the sensible choice though – they're fast, reliable, and easy to set up (it's almost as if tech companies are waking up to how easy home Wi-Fi should be). Even if you've never had to configure your own wireless network before, the best mesh networking kits make it all very straightforward.

On a technical level, these mesh networks are made up of little Wi-Fi 'nodes' that talk to each other and get as a strong a signal as possible out to all your devices. As far as your devices are concerned, it's just one consistent wireless network.

Look for the speed, often written as something like AC2200 – that's the type of Wi-Fi (AC) and theoretical maximum speed (2,200 Mbps), though you probably won't get that in reality. You'll also need to decide on a number of nodes: two should do most homes, but bigger places might need more.

The best mesh networks you can buy today in 2019: get the best mesh network for you

Google Wi-Fi is the best mesh WiFi system on the market today.

1. Google Wi-Fi

The best mesh network for most purposes

Specifications

Connection: AC1200, dual-band

Reasons to buy

As soon as you unbox the Google Wi-Fi nodes you can see these look like stylish pieces of smart home tech rather than networking gear that needs to be hidden away, and that's how it should be with the best mesh networking kit. It's not too expensive either – a two-pack will cost you a little over £200.

The real draw with Google Wi-Fi, though, is how easy it is to set up, configure and use. The accompanying app looks and feels great, and is – dare we say it – Apple-esque in its simplicity. You can prioritise devices, block devices (like the kids' iPad), and add limited guest access. You can also roam the house checking speeds in every room, which ends up being very addictive.

A Google Wi-Fi node actually replaces your router rather than just tagging onto it, and for most homes one extra node should be enough. We'd say this is very much a product made for normal people tired of Wi-Fi nightmares – you can just set it up and start enjoying more comprehensive Wi-Fi coverage, that all your devices can connect to, in minutes.

The only real downside compared to some competitors is a noticeable performance drop from the satellite units. With AC1200 speed on the nodes, Google's mesh network isn't quite as speedy as some. You do get two Ethernet ports on each node as an option.

Netgear Orbi is the best mesh Wi-Fi bundle for serious users.

2. Netgear Orbi

Best mesh network for power users

Specifications

Connection: Tri-band AC2200

Reasons to buy

While you'll see Netgear Orbi kit sold alongside mesh networks, it's actually a little different to most packages: it's more like a turbo-charged wireless extender than a conventional mesh network. All the nodes talk to the main router unit, rather than to each other, so you need to take that into account when positioning them.

In our testing, using a pair of Orbi nodes to cover the areas of the house where a normal router starts trailing off, the Netgear Orbi gear performed admirably, with very little loss of speed when connected to the secondary box.

Setup is refreshingly painless, if not quite as smooth and slick as you get with Google Wi-Fi. Each of the satellite ports brings with it a generous four Ethernet ports and a USB connection too (though that port is currently used to connect printers, rather than offering a way to add networked storage).

The main stumble here, if we can make a complaint, is the design. The Orbi not only looks more like an aromatherapy dispenser than a router, it's also one of the largest network extender boxes around, and is going to be hard to miss. If you can live with the looks, this is a powerful and intuitive mesh networking system.

BT Whole Home, the best mesh networking option for BT fans.

3. BT Whole Home

Best mesh network for BT customers

Specifications

Connection: Dual-band AC2600

Reasons to buy

The BT mesh network takes the approach of sitting alongside your router rather than replacing it, which makes it a bit of a bargain as well – you can currently get three satellites devices for £199, which will only get you a single unit with some of the other solutions. This is well worth a spot on our best mesh networking kit of 2019 list.

This setup suits homes where you're locked into using the router that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) has given you. If you've signed up with Virgin Media for internet and television services, for example, you can't get at the router (it's inside the main TV box) – BT Whole Home solves that problem.

BT has nailed the price then, but the design of these satellite notes isn't necessarily something we're going to be basing our interior design plans around though. These white dishes on little metal stands aren’t exactly ugly, but do look like networking aerials, and that clear BT logo in the middle really doesn’t help either.

Other solutions are a little faster but the sheer square footage you can cover with three receivers is mammoth. BT also sells the Whole Home with two units or just a single one these days, so there are solutions to suit just about any living setup and budget, and the app includes plenty of smarts for monitoring and controlling internet access.

Linksys Velop, the best mesh network for advanced use.

4. Linksys Velop

The best mesh network for experts and patient users

Specifications

Connection: Tri-band AC2200

Reasons to buy

With its vaguely Bluetooth speaker-like looks, the Linksys Velop networking gear doesn't score many points in terms of its design, but the satellite nodes do have a small enough footprint that you can effectively hide them away around the home.

We found performance to be very good indeed during our testing: we barely saw any speed loss even with a fast 100/150Mbps optical fibre home internet connection. It was a shame then that setup was more fiddly than with the Vesop's competitors – we needed a factory reset and a bit of troubleshooting to get everything working properly.

Also in the negatives column, the Linksys Velop gear lacks a few extras that the likes of the Netgear boxes include, and you only get two Ethernet ports on the bottom of each box unlike the four on the Orbi nodes. You can however set priority devices in the app, and customise your Wi-Fi access in a variety of other helpful ways.

As far as buying choices go, you can pick up the Linksys Velop hardware in a bundle of one, two or three units. If you want to start off with just one router node, we're happy to report that it gave us just about the best wireless range we’ve seen from one of these mesh setups – even just one satellite is able to cover a very wide area, so you might not even need a mesh at all.

TP-Link Deco M5 offers fanastic value for money.

5. TP-Link Deco M5

The best mesh network kit for value for money

Specifications

Connection: Dual-band AC1300

Reasons to buy

TP-Link has long been known for putting out decent hardware at very decent prices, and if you are willing to put up with a few rough edges (particularly on the software side) then the company offers some great value for money kit – including the Deco M5 mesh Wi-Fi bundle.

You get a pack of three nodes for not much money at all – £180 at the time of writing – and that'll cover a huge 4,500 square feet (420 square metres) of space. Everything is simple to set up and use even if you don't get some of the more advanced features available elsewhere.

What you do get is integration with Amazon Alexa and the excellent IFTTT service, which means you can connect up a whole host of other apps and services fairly painlessly. Easily one of the best mesh networking kits around in 2019, so don't be fooled by the low price.

Reasons to buy

There's a lot to like about the Multy X system from Zyxel, including the 3,000 Mbps maximum speed and the rock-solid strength of the connections. Oh and it works with Alexa too, so if you've got a few Amazon Echo devices dotted around the home then you can control your internet with your voice.

As well as excellent speeds, you get extras like three Ethernet ports on each of the nodes, plus a USB port – it's only USB 2.0, which is a shame, but it should be speedy enough to use a printer or external hard drive and share it around the network.

From the software angle, the supplied Zyxel app is a little rough around the edges but just about does the job. Other apps are friendlier and more intuitive but we got there in the end with the Zyxel app – and at the end of the day you just want fast, comprehensive Wi-Fi first and foremost from the best mesh network hardware, don't you? You don't even have to use the app if you prefer telling Alexa to turn off the internet instead.

On the downside, the kit is a little on the expensive side and isn't the most compact or well-designed system we've ever seen. Overall though, the problems are minor and the pluses are major, and we'd recommend putting this on the shortlist to anyone who is shopping for a mesh network kit.

Sky Q is the best mesh networking kit for TV fans.

7. Sky Q

The best mesh network for 4K TV junkies

Specifications

Connection: Not stated

Reasons to buy

+Works with Sky Q TV system+Loads of streaming extras like Netflix

Reasons to avoid

If you're thinking about upgrading your TV equipment at home as well as your Wi-Fi network, then the Sky Q package is well worth considering – the mini boxes that talk to the main Sky Q box also act as Wi-Fi hotspots.

That means your home gets blanketed in Wi-Fi as well as giving you access to all the other Sky Q extras, such as the ability to start watching a show down in the living room, and then switch to the bedroom and pick up where you left off.

Performance isn't as good as some other kits we've mentioned here, and it is expensive, but you get a TV and Wi-Fi upgrade combined – and that's enough to earn it a spot on our best mesh networking kits of 2019 list.